What is The Voice?

Executive producer Mark Burnett brings viewers a new kind of music reality competition, reviving and rejuvenating the format viewers have already seen on programmes like Idols and X-Factor.

Four talented musical superstars each coach a team of wannabe singers from a diverse range of musical genres. The Season 6 coaches are Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Usher and Shakira.

The first priority of the coaches is to support and develop the talents of their artists and their criticism is limited to constructively helping each contestant become a better artist. They build their teams, coach their artists and then battle it out with each other – all in the hope of finding the next ‘Voice.’

The competition
The search for the Voice takes place in four phases – the nerve-wracking blind auditions in which coaches build their teams, the intense battle rounds in which coaches narrow down their teams, the feverish knockouts in which teams are further refined and the flashy live shows where America decides who the next Voice will be.

The blind auditions
The Voice sets itself apart from shows like Idols with the blind auditions. In this phase, the four coaches have their backs turned to the contestants; they aren’t allowed to turn around or even peek at the contestant performing.

If a coach hears something he/she likes, then they press their button and their chair turns around. This guarantees the contestant a spot on that coach’s team.

But if more than one coach turns their chair, the power shifts to the contestant. Now it’s up to the coaches to convince the contestant to join their team and not the team of their fellow coaches, which means battling their fellow coaches to win over the contestants they want for their own teams.

Naturally arguments and good-natured insults ensue – Shelton and Levine have developed a fierce rivalry (and friendship) over the course of the five seasons they’ve served as coaches.

Contestants who demonstrate individuality and originality typically win over the coaches. Over six episodes each coach will have to fill their team up with the best artists they can find, typically 10-12 artists per a team.

The battle rounds
Each coach selects two artists from their own team to musically battle it out on a boxing-ring style stage. Coaches are assisted by special advisers who jointly train and advise the two contestants, who will sing a duet selected by their coach.

In Season 6, Blake Shelton will be assisted by The Band Perry, Shakira will be working with Miranda Lambert (who, coincidentally, is Shelton’s wife), Jill Scott will be helping Usher out, while Adam Levine will make use of Aloe Blacc’s musical talents to assist his team. Once trained, the contestants perform and coaches pick the better of the two artists to advance to the next phase.

It’s not always over for the loser though, as one of the other three coaches is allowed to “steal” the loser and add him/her to their team. Each coach is usually allowed two steals. Once again, if more than one coach wants to steal the same artist, then the artist has to make the tough decision of which coach’s team to move to.

The knockouts
In the third phase, each artist receives individual attention from his/her coach as they rehearse and practice a song that will best showcase their individual vocal talents.

Coaches select two contestants from their own teams to battle once again. Each artist performs their song and coaches select one of the two artists to advance to the live shows. In season 5, each coach also had the opportunity to steal one artist from amongst the losers to advance to the next phase.

The live shows
Each week, artists work with their coaches and perform a song selected either by themselves or their coach. The next day, in a live elimination, the group is narrowed down (M-Net will be airing the elimination shows immediately after the performances on Saturdays – so no waiting for us).

A predetermined number of contestants from any coach’s team are then sent home. America votes to save their favourite artists by phone, SMS and by buying the artists’ songs online. The elimination shows also include performances by other popular contemporary artists who sometimes incorporate a few of the contestants in their performances. Coaches also perform songs with their teams.

Week by week, the pool of contestants is whittled down and eventually only one artist remains. This talented individual is crowned “The Voice” and receives a recording contract. 

The Voice airs on M-Net (DStv channel 101) at 6pm WAT with double bill episodes every Saturday.